Skimlinks trial on MSE forums

JimmyTheWig

marleyboy wrote: »

However as an err of caution, anyone could argue that the praise threads could and should be included, yet the vents should be excluded, of course as both vents and praises are merged, the only feasible option would be to re-separate the vents from the praise threads.

I don't see the problem. In fact, this is a perfect place to use it.

Scenario 1. No Skimlink.
User sees a rant in the vent section and clicks through. Decides, despite the rant, to buy the product for, say, £100. The website being ranted against picks up £100.

Scenario 2. With Skimlink.
User sees a rant in the vent section and clicks through (via Skimlinks). Decides, despite the rant, to buy the product for, say, £100. The website pays Skimlinks £1 (part of which goes to MSE). The website being ranted against picks up £99.

I.e. with a Skimlink in place the website in question loses out to a small extent.

marleyboy

Agreed, however I am not sure Martin Lewis would wish to profit from any kind of blood money, I am sure the intentions are completely honourable and will do just as well from the thousands of honest companies with a more favourable reputability.

I am all for the idea of it in principle, as it can only better such a popular site and forum as MSE. I just would not want it be open to abuse from more, unscrupulous or dodgy companies. Companies like these are more commonly found in the vents or warnings threads.

Roger_Rampant

I hope that there will be an opt out possibility.

I have a hosts file which cuts out most adverts before they appear on my screen, by sending all the major junk URLs (such as tradedoubler and doubleclick.net) to loopback 127.0.0.1

You can download the same hosts file for free from here:
http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/
if online adverts get on your nerves.

So when I click the B&Q link in post 10 of this thread for example:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2702967
it tells me that the web page is not available, because it sees it as an advert URL and sends it to loopback. Obviously I can then copy and paste the relevant part of the URL from the error message and go there that way, but it's an unnecessary palaver that I can do without, really.

DarkConvict

The play.com link here - https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2701865

Is turned into http://www.awin1.com/awclick.php?mid=1418&id=78888&clickref=skim3196X602032&p=http://www.play.com/Electronics/Electronics/4-/1102680/Sennheiser-OMX-90-VC-In-Ear-Headphones/Product.html

Its worth noting that awin1.com links have not worked on my laptop since installation. It may well be awin1 got black listed but awin1.com often fails to work, and has done for a few years over various machine.

oakhouse13

awin is Affiliate Window so this forum post is working for MSE which is working for Skimlinks which is working for Affiliate Window which is working for Play.com driving sales.

Payment terms for promoting Play.com are here

http://www.affiliatewindow.com/merchant_directory.php?action=showmerch&mid=1418

As a Play.com affiliate, there's a potential conflict from posting voucher codes on the forum since Play's terms for affiliates state:

Discount Code policy

Affiliates are not permitted to promote any discount code or voucher code unless it has been supplied either directly from the Play.com marketing team or Affiliate Window. The use of 'illegal' discount codes may result in sales being declined and ultimately programme suspension.

MSE may have some arrangement in place regarding vouchers in the forum.

Play has this product at a supposed 80% off based on an inflated RRP. Google shopping search shows them on sale at less than £20 generally.

Read the reviews on Amazon and you'll realise why these are £10. They are XXXX basically.

PhiltheBear

I tried this out. What I found even more disturbing is that the first time I did it I went via the 'awin' link.

The second time I appeared to go straight there - presumably because the skimlink route put a cookie on my PC which checks to see if it need to divert me again.

Play.com will have already put down a cookie for skimlinks on my PC so that any purchases I make in the next 30 days - or whatever their cookie period is - from Play.com will provide commission to skimlinks providing that I go straight to Play.com. This will pay commission irrespective of the purchase I make.

So it's not just a simple - MSE will get commission from forum users clicking a link to something recommended here - MSE will also get commission on other purchases.

I would think both MSE and Skimlinks are rubbing their hands together in glee.

poorly_scammo

Must say am a bit miffed with this as when one goes to the vouchers section you now have to register to print the vouchers off which results in more spam. Previously all you had to do was click on the link. This is a new feature presumably caused by the skimlinks thingy. Can we have this reversed please?

Steve-o

poorly_scammo wrote: »

Must say am a bit miffed with this as when one goes to the vouchers section you now have to register to print the vouchers off which results in more spam. Previously all you had to do was click on the link. This is a new feature presumably caused by the skimlinks thingy. Can we have this reversed please?

If you mean spam in your email box, try this when registering: http://www.mailinator.com/index.jsp

Vuze

The MSE site markets itself as a site for consumers, 'free of ads' and 'consumer revenge', implying it is against the negative aspects associated with commercialism - but when I look at the site, I can't help but see many offers that seem to be drenched in a commercial nature. Perhaps there is some editorial integrity there to make the offers as unbiased as reasonably possible, but this initiative with the Skimlinks software seems like an invasive way to generate revenue and reeks of commercialism.

The MSE site is free to do what it likes, I'm just pointing out that for many average-joe users like myself, we will not be able to help the feeling that the site says one thing but behaves in another - it will affect our perception of the integrity of the site and the MSE brand. Whether it is justified or not is not even a point for discussion, what you have to consider is how the mass majority of people will perceive it. Skimlinks would be fine on any commercial site, but on a site that markets itself as 'free of ads' and 'consumer revenge' as though it was on a crusade against the evils of corporations, it seems disingenuous to say the least.

How much revenue was generated through this trial? Is it so much that it's worth degrading a certain level of trust?

My 2 pence.

DarkConvict

I wasn't going to buy the item from play, merely stating a normal play.com link that used to work on my PC no longer does. A sideaffect of slim links. I do not know why AWIN does not work on my PC, its either a hosts file block or something due to me doing java development.

I do also agree about the cookie issue, it means the purchases for a period of time goto MSE/Slim links. So do remember with cashback websites you must clear all your cache/cookies/temp files otherwise MSE gets the cashback instead if you had previously clicked a link.